Heat-insulating material.



C. P. BYRNES.

HEAT INSULATING MATERIAL. APPLICATION men MAR-6.1901. 1 1,162,45Q Patented Nov. 30, 1915 II 21 NJ? 1 Aw 0 INVENTOR G (MM W WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

omnNcn r. BYRNES, or s wIoKLEY, PENNSYLVANIA.

HEAT-INSULATING MATERIAL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE P. BxRNns,

of Sewickley, Allegheny county, Pennsyl Vania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Heat-Insulating Material, of

which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being .had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis ture of cork and binder, thus producing artificial air cells throughout the mass.

In carrying out the process, I preferably heat the granulated cork in any manner, as by stirring it in a heated vessel. The heated cork is then mixed with hot or liquid pitch, asphalt, or other suitable binder, and this mixture is aerated by forcing air into the mixture so as to produce a substantially uniform mixture with air cells distributed throughout it. These air cells will be formed by the viscous quality of the binder The mixture may then be and the mixture. fed out and allowed to set, either on a table or carrier, without pressure, or it may be spread or tamped into sheet form, which may be compressed somewhat and held under compression until the binder is Suficiently set to hold the sheet in the compressed form. This compression may be ap-' plied by water-cooled rolls, by belts, or other suitable devices.

In the drawings, 2 represents a melting kettle, in which the binder is heated and brought to a liquid condition if it is solid at normal temperatures. From the kettle 2 the binder may be fed into the kettle 3, from which it runs through valved pipe i into a measuring device 5. From the measuring device it will be fed through valved pipe 6 into either oneof the mixing. reservolrs 7, 7 These reservoirs may be heated by steam pipes, steam jackets, or in any other suitable manner. The pipe 6 is arranged to swingto feed the mixing or aerating devices. In the reservoir 7 the binder and cork are intimately Specification of Letters Patent.

the hot mixture into either of' Patented Nov. 30, 11915. Application mammal 6,1907. summonses.-

mixed by stirring arms 8 on a hollow rotary shaft 9 driven through bevel gear connection 10 with a rotary shaft 11. ,The shaft 9 and arms 8 are hollow, and the arms'8 are provided with a series of perforations throughout their length; and compressed air i is supplied to the rotar pipe 12 connecting witli the shaft through a suitable stuffing box device. The supply to each mixer is controlled by suitable valves shaft 9 through a 13." The compressed air thus introduced will cause a large increase in the volume occupied by the mixture, owing to the providing throughout it of incased air cells which themselves give good heat insulating qualities to the material. After the mixture has been aerated to the desired degree and thoroughly mixed it may be fed out through a valved chute 14 upon a traveling belt 15. The belt 15 moves between two series of water-cooled rollers 16, which are positively driven, and a belt 17 is also preferably used around the upper set of water-cooled rollers. These rollers may be provided with adjustable bearings to give the desired amount of pressure, and the length of the series is pref: erably such that the binder is cooled sufii: ciently to become set before the material is released from the pressure. cork is therefore held in shape until the binder is sufiioiently cold to hold the mixture in the shape imparted to it.- The chute 14 is preferably of substantially the width of the belt, or a narrower chute may be used and f material passes, or by a tamping device,

which may be mechanically actuated. In

case tampers are used, abed plate may be used under the projecting portion of the lower belt to provide backing for the tamping operation.

Instead of obtaining a continuous sheet of heat-insulating material as above described, the material may be fed out from. the mixing and aerating tanks either upon a rotary or continuous carrier or into molds. If allowed to cool on a carrier or support as it issues from the aerator, the blocks thus formed may be sawed or otherwise cut up into sheets or parts of the desired size and shape.-

If fed into molds/pressure may be applied to give blocks, sheets or shapes of the desired character, and in this case the pressure should be held upon thematerial until it is The sheet of.

sufiiciently cold for the binder to be set, thus holding the mixture in the desired shape with the contained air cells.

The advantages of my invention result from the aerating of the heated mixture of cork or similar material with its binder. The amount of material obtained from a given amount of cork ,is thus greatly increased, while heat-insulating material of high insulating qualities is afforded, owing to the presence of a large number of arti- V the material, and also additional air spaces ficially formed air cells within the material and held in shape by the chilled binder.

Many variations may be made in the form and arrangement of the apparatus employed. Other material than cork may be employed, the character of binder may be varied widely, and many other Variations may be made without departing from my invention.

I claim 1. A substantially rigid heat insulating structure formed from a plastic mass of organic insulating material mixed with a binder and containing both the air spaces which result from the natural porosity of formed by the mechanical injection of air into the plastic mass prior to its setting, substantially as described.

. 2. A substantially rigid heat insulating structure formed from a plastic mass of granulated or comminuted cork mixed with a binder and containing both the air spaces which result from the natural porosity of the cork, and also additional air spaces formed by the mechanical injection of air into the plastic mass prior to its setting, substantially as described.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a substantially rigid heat insulating material .composed of a porous organic substance 0. P. BYRNES.

W'itnesses: v

JOHN MILLER, H. M. CORWIN. 

